Social work graduate strives to make a difference

Nancy Kropf, Ph.D., enjoyed the interdisciplinary program VCU offered.

As a professor and director of the School of Social Work at Georgia State University, Nancy Kropf (Ph.D.'90/SW) finds many similarities between her professional home and her alma mater.

For Kropf, Georgia State's urban location reminds her of VCU and the possibilities the city setting offered her as a student.

"I really grew to appreciate the kind of opportunities you get, not just having the medical campus, but having the state Capitol down the street — really being in the mix of what's happening politically. That's really important in social work," Kropf says. "There are opportunities to be involved at the front end of policy discussions and make professional networks with people who are on the cutting edge of what's happening in the community. It's just really wonderful."

In 2006, Kropf received the inaugural Making a Difference award from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work. The award recognizes and honors doctoral alumni who have distinguished themselves as leaders and innovators in social work scholarship, education, practice, policy or service.

Kropf felt humbled to be the award's first recipient.

"It was quite an honor," she says. "There was a reception for me at one of our national conferences, and there's a very nice plaque hanging prominently on my wall."

Focus on elderly care

Kropf's award-winning work combines gerontology with social work. Her interest in the elderly started early, because as a child her grandmother lived with her and raised her for a period of time.

"I come from a personal experience of having a very warm and productive relationship with an older family member," Kropf says. 

In the early 1980s, as a social worker practicing in Detroit, Kropf worked with older parents of disabled or ill adult children — a group she says received very little attention. Because of frustration over how to help these parents find the best available resources, Kropf decided to return to school for her doctorate.

"When I was looking at different schools, a criterion was how I could integrate aging into my program of study," she says. "VCU has a very prominent aging program, as well as a really wonderful School of Social Work, so it really fit my needs well."

At VCU, Kropf interacted with students from throughout the university while taking gerontology classes on the MCV Campus.

"That was a wonderful experience because it was truly multidisciplinary," she says. "I think I was the only social worker in most of my aging courses. That really helped me understand the complexity of the field of geriatrics and gerontology. It moved me away from looking just through a social work lens."

After graduating from VCU, Kropf spent 16 years on the faculty at the University of Georgia and then landed her current position at Georgia State. She says she revels in her leadership role "to move the school forward and perform innovative teaching and research in the Georgia community."

Kropf's research of older parents who provide care for adult children with developmental disabilities and chronic illness began at VCU. Despite her busy schedule, she still makes time to explore the subject.

"It's just so important how we can prepare the next generation of social workers in this area," Kropf says. "There's this real passion in our profession to upgrade labor-force capacity in this area, and I'm just really excited to continue to be part of that."

Amazing changes on campus

Kropf visits VCU periodically on her way up and down the East Coast and marvels at the university's transformation.

"I've gone through campus and I'm just amazed at the changes that have taken place since I was there," she says. "I always thought that VCU was a beautiful campus, but some of the changes have really made it feel like an urban campus that's welcoming and dynamic."

When she's not working, Kropf spends time outdoors, hiking or running, which is something she started doing during her years in Richmond.

"Being in graduate school it was nice to get out and run and not have to think about what I should be doing in the library," she says.

Recently, Kropf began dabbling in the kitchen, something that may surprise some of her colleagues in the doctoral program because back then, "I used to eat at 7-Eleven a lot," she says.